Though officially a part of a congressional delegation on a fact-finding tour expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was traveling Saturday amid the publicity and scrutiny accorded a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois. Security was tight and media access to Obama was limited by his campaign, and his itinerary in the war zones was a closely guarded secret.

Obama and others in the delegation received a briefing inside the U.S. base in Jalalabad from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord.

"Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector," Sherzai told The Associated Press.

In addition, Obama was expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, in the wake of criticism from presidential rival and Republican Sen. John McCain that Obama developed a policy without firsthand knowledge.

At the start of his Afghan trip, the delegation met with top military leaders and troops at Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. military base north of the capital, before going to Jalalabad Air Field in Nangarhar province.

Before departing the U.S., Obama said he wanted to see "the situation on the ground."

"I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are, and I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing," he said.

Obama advocates ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq by withdrawing troops at the rate of one to two combat brigades a month. He supports increasing the military commitment to Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency is at its strongest in seven years.

U.S. military officials said the number of attacks in eastern Afghanistan, where most of the U.S. forces in the country operate, has gone up by 40 percent so far in 2008, compared to the same period in 2007.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday that after intense U.S. assaults there, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq.

"We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued viability of al-Qaida's fight in Iraq," Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview in Baghdad.

Violence is spiraling in Afghanistan, although foreign troop numbers are at their highest since the invasion: about 60,000 in all, including 36,000 Americans. They are bolstered by a steadily growing number of Western-trained Afghan army soldiers.

Few citizens in impoverished Afghanistan were aware of Obama's unannounced visit, and few have been following the U.S. presidential race, being too busy eking out an existence amid soaring violence and with limited access to news media.

But some interviewed Saturday said they would welcome an Obama presidency if he could help their country end the fighting, corruption and poverty that have crippled it for so long.

En route to Afghanistan, Obama stopped Friday at Camp Arifjan, the main U.S. military base in Kuwait and a major gateway for U.S. soldiers moving into and out of Iraq.

In video released Saturday by the military, Obama said the troops needed the support of Congress as well as the public and that it was critical that "we also have a strategy and a mission that allows you to do your jobs well but is also going to serve the larger strategic interests of the United States."

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